Something I noticed

[Mysterious F.]

As everyone who has played The Wind Waker knows, you have to gather the eight fragments of the Triforce of Courage. Why? Because when the Hero of Time (Ocarina of Time Link) went to another land, the Triforce left him, and the Triforce of Courage was scattered and the pieces hidden. Many fans have generally accepted that this "other land" is Termina, from Major'as Mask.

However,

It has also recently been stated that following Ocarina of Time, there are TWO timelines for the Zelda world. One follows the world of Adult Link, which continues on towards The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass. The other starts in Child Link's world, and includes Majora's ask and Twilight Princess.

Basically, this means that the events of Child Link's world and Ault Link's world cannot affect each other.

So then, if Link never went to Termina in Adult's Link world, then how did the Triforce of Courage leave him?

Simple: the Link from Ocarina of Time only had the Triforce of Courage as an adult, not as a child. When Ganondorf wished upon the Triforce, it broke into the three seperate Triforces. Power went to Ganon, Wisdom to Zelda, and Courage to Link, who was sleeping in the Sacred Realm.

Basically, when he went back to Child Link's world at the end of Ocarina of Time, the Triforce didn't go with him and stayed in Adult Link's world, and was broken and scattered. Hyrule was then flooded, and the events of The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass happened.

Another note that should be mentioned: if the creators at Nintendo made this specifically as I mentin here, then that means they were already thinking games ahead when they were making The Wind Waker, and most likely are still. However, it should also be noted that the main concern of the staff should be MAKING games and making them good, not developing complicated timelines. They still take developing a timeline for all the games somewhat seriously, though.

[MagmarFire]

It has also recently been stated that following Ocarina of Time, there are TWO timelines for the Zelda world. One follows the world of Adult Link, which continues on towards The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass. The other starts in Child Link's world, and includes Majora's ask and Twilight Princess.

Are you sure about that? Personally, I think that the Adult Timeline follows through to Twilight Princess and that the Child Timeline includes Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker, and Phantom Hourglass. If Twilight Princess lies in the Child Timeline, where the Triforce of Courage was split into eight, how do you explain why Twilight Princess Link managed to have it whole?

[Keaton]

Wouldn't this go in the theories section?

[Hi no Seijin]

Another note that should be mentioned: if the creators at Nintendo made this specifically as I mentin here, then that means they were already thinking games ahead when they were making The Wind Waker, and most likely are still. However, it should also be noted that the main concern of the staff should be MAKING games and making them good, not developing complicated timelines. They still take developing a timeline for all the games somewhat seriously, though.

My concern is this note, so sorry if my post seems off topic.

Nintendo should make good games, but video games have become about telling a story as well, so Nintendo should ignore you and focus on making good games that have good stories.

Also, did you know several people are involved in making a video game?  They can have some people focus on gameplay and other people focus on story.  Gasp!

[Commodore Axilon]

Basically, when he went back to Child Link's world at the end of Ocarina of Time, the Triforce didn't go with him and stayed in Adult Link's world, and was broken and scattered. Hyrule was then flooded, and the events of The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass happened.

Watch the OoT ending sequence again. Link has the Triforce of Courage on his hand when he goes back to meet Zelda.

lol i think i just disproved the split timeline XD

Also, telling a good story and trying to come up with as convoluted a timeline as possible are not the same thing, HNS. Believe it or not!

[Hi no Seijin]

True.  But that last sentence sounded like Whocares was mad at Nintendo for coming up with a story for the games, because timelines are part of stories too, you know.

[Mysterious F.]

No, I'm glad they make stories. But th actual games should be their main concern, because if there were no games, why would they need a timeline?

And as I said, when Adult Link went back in time to Child Link's world at the end of OOT, the Triforce stayed behind in Adult Link's world, where it was split and hidden.

And the Triforce appearing on his hand at the end might have just been something added in before Nintendo thought up making TWW and TP and splitting the timelines. Just a minor mistake on their part.

[Commodore Axilon]

Ah, I see.

So you can just ignore it if it doesn't already fit your preconceived notions?

[Mysterious F.]

As I said, it is probably just a mistake on Nintendo's part. Ocarina of Time made the Zelda games huge, so they needed to think up bigger stories than before. They probably came up with the split timeline after Ocarina of Time's success.

[Keaton]

As I said, it is probably just a mistake on Nintendo's part. Ocarina of Time made the Zelda games huge, so they needed to think up bigger stories than before. They probably came up with the split timeline after Ocarina of Time's success.

Oh wow, that totally fits in with my current theory that IT'S A GAME SERIES.

The big N doesn't care what the hell's going to happen to a timeline when they get an idea.  The designers for the graphics and storyline might try to fit in something to make everything cohesive and linear, but it's never going to happen with a 100% success rate.  Miyamoto could say, "Hey everyone, today we're going to make a game where Link is actually Jesus and Ganon represents Satan", and the programmers would have to go along with it.  They might make some things to make it make sense storyline-wise, but it's not like it's going to be at one set point in the timeline.

MM, OoA, OoS, TRR, and the CD-i games are not on the canonical timeline.  They're Nintendo's way of saying, "Oops".

[Commodore Axilon]

The rest I could understand, but MM? MM seems to pretty unambiguously take place after OoT.

Also, that's, like, your opinion, man.

[Keaton]

No, it's non-canonical because there's no official standpoint onto where exactly Termina is.  Whether it's just geographically away from Hyrule or in another dimension is a huge difference.

[Commodore Axilon]

I don't see how that makes it non-canonical.

[Keaton]

The game itself is canonical.  Its place on the timeline according to ZU is, as of yet, not.

[MagmarFire]

That's like saying that it doesn't exist, from what I see.